Lighting for softies and LPS - no SPS.

[salty150]

What kind of lights (wattage, etc.) do you need if you are only going to have softies and LPS corals - and no SPS?

The tank is 84" L x 30" W x 26" H.

Thanks!

 

[Channas]

What kind of lights (wattage, etc.) do you need if you are only going to have softies and LPS corals - and no SPS?

The tank is 84" L x 30" W x 26" H.

Thanks!

Depends on your preference but i would reccomend 3-4 ai prime or even maxspect mj serie the blue version. I keep a combo of those two but the maxspect mj work like a charm growing torches and softies and the ai prime i use for my sticks but given the chance i would probably only have the ai prime for my tank due ti their awesome app.

 

[salty150]

So with only softies and LPS - you should be shooting for a light with a 150 PAR max, correct?

 

[Channas]

So with only softies and LPS - you should be shooting for a light with a 150 PAR max, correct?

Depends if you are going to keep high end torches for example, they do best under 200-250 par in my experience but generally 150 par is perfect for lps and more than enough for softies

 

[salty150]

Depends if you are going to keep high end torches for example, they do best under 200-250 par in my experience but generally 150 par is perfect for lps and more than enough for softies

No torches.

Just hammers, frogspawn, Favia, Chalice, etc.

 

[Channas]

No torches.

Just hammers, frogspawn, Favia, Chalice, etc.

Then it will be totally fine aim for 150 par on the upper section of the reef is my advice, softies thrive usually arround 25-75 par. I have a couple of rhodactis and Discosoma that sits at 0-25 par and thrive

 

[Channas]

I would advice you to invest in a good light though because you never know where this Journey will take your tank and in the future you might want to try different corals and it’s nice to have lights that you can simply crank up to meet their par needs

 

[mcarroll]

Matching PAR levels to coral species isn't how things work. LPS and SPS don't even correspond to biological characteristics anyway. Remember that corals aren't photosynthetic, it's their dinolflagellates that are. The needs of those dino's are pretty common among corals. Light intensity corresponds to depth.....so corals found at that depth will be able to adapt to light there. This adaptability doesn't respect "LPS/SPS" boundaries at all.

 

[Channas]

I hope you mean zooxanthellae, dino is not something you want to grow on your corals jokes aside, i dont fully understand what you try to say here but i 100% disagree with you on matching par to coral species because we know that different types of coral need different kind of par out put to grow their zooxanthellae for them to eat. But there is alot more to it than just par, flow, nutrients, minerals etc

 

[BryanM]

What kind of lights (wattage, etc.) do you need if you are only going to have softies and LPS corals - and no SPS?

The tank is 84" L x 30" W x 26" H.

Thanks!

personally I'd either go with 4 lights, or check out reefbreeders meridians. They are "overkill" for just softies, but one of the best lights out there, and will future proof you if you decide you want corals that need more light.

 

[mcarroll]

Symbiodinium dinoflagellates are what grow inside our corals. A type of dino....

Marine "velvet", or Amyloodinium is another type...

"Pest algae" dino's are (eg) Amphidinium, Ostreopsis, etc.